Facebook rolling out new privacy tools

Facebook unveiled new tools to help users understand and control the visibility of their data and posts Wednesday in response to criticism from privacy watchdogs about the social network’s handling of personal data.

The new data tools announced Wednesday include the addition of a privacy shortcut on its toolbar to allow users to quickly access information, such as who can view their data. In addition, the company is integrating pages to make it easier for users to find tools to control privacy — creating a one-stop shop for the various privacy controls.

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The company committed to boosting privacy education efforts after discussions with regulators in the U.S. and Europe, a Facebook representative said. As part of that, it is tweaking its privacy control interface and refining its method of telling users how their information can be accessed within the network. Facebook plans to institute the changes, which will be outlined in a blog post published later Wednesday, by the end of the year.

“Our two goals are: one, to make sure controls are up front and in mind at the moment at which people share; and then really educating them to make sure they understand where their information is showing on Facebook,” said Nicky Jackson Colaco, the company’s manager of privacy and safety.

Facebook finalized a privacy settlement with the Federal Trade Commission earlier this year under which it must undergo two decades of privacy audits and obtain consent from users before sharing their information in a way not made clear in the company’s privacy policies.

Privacy groups have been upset with Facebook recently over changes to its privacy policy that privacy advocates argue may have violated the FTC settlement. Facebook’s work with consumer analytics firm Datalogix has also drawn fire.

“Facebook’s privacy redesign is an attempt to paper over the big changes taking place with user data. In particular, all timeline entries are now available for Facebook search and there is nothing users can do about that,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

EPIC had warned the FTC earlier “that Timeline, which made old posts available on the user’s wall without the user’s consent, violated the 2011 consent order,” Rotenberg added. “But the FTC failed to act. Facebook got the message and has gone forward with another big dialing down of online privacy.”